Call to Action!
Here what kids have to say about losing their school arts programs!
Click here for AEAC's Arts Parent Leadership Council's PSA
Join the grassroots movement to preservie the
progress that the LAUSD has made with arts
education by joining Arts for LA in sending 700
letters within 30 days to LAUSD school members:
science and poetry…and all the things that make
an education worthwhile."
-President Barack Obama
February 9, 2008
(taken from his official website)
Ayanna Hudson of the LA County Arts Commission
addressing congress on the importance of arts education:
Governor focuses on budget in short "State of the State"
address on KPCC
LISTEN/READ TRANSCRIPT
LAUSD gives superintendent authority to lay off teachers on KPCC
LISTEN/READ TRANSCRIPT
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass on KFWB
LISTEN
$400 Million Budget Cuts with Daily News
PODCAST/TRANSCRIPT
LAUSD has frozen funding for arts education due to state budget cuts!
Sign the Arts for LA petition and let others know how you
feel about this...
Click Here To Sign Petition Now
Save the arts teachers jobs in LAUSD!
http://www.petitiononline.com/la4arts/petition.html
Write your legislators to let them know how you feel about
the importance of arts education in our public schools:
| Senator Sheila Kuehl |
Assembly member Bob Blumenfeld write message |
| Senator Alex Padilla write messsage |
Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes write message |
| Assemblymember Julia Brownley write message |
|
Express your thoughts and concerns |
|
| Tamar Galatzan tamar.galatzan@lausd.net |
Nury Martinez nury.martinez@lausd.net |
| Steve Zimmer steve.zimmer@lausd.net |
|
Attention Valley Public Schools with Stellar Arts Programs:
Does your school or art department have a website that you would like others to be aware of? Send us your school arts webpage and we will link to our new website!
Send to assist@aieac.org
"Students First: Children Speak on the Mission of Public Education."
California State Senator Gloria Romero, Chair of the Senate Committee on Education, called a hearing, held June 23rd, titled "Students First: Children Speak on the Mission of Public Education." Parents and their children came from all around the state of California to participate in the rally on the state capitol steps and “lobby” their representatives in a special room. Recent high school graduate Pepper Youngs of Sacramento made an eloquent statement on behalf of arts education:
"I believe one of the new goals of the code of education should be the support and encouragement by the state for students’ involvement in the visual and performing arts. The creative arts are a severely underappreciated subject, and our public schools have laid witness to the loss of these programs at an ever increasing rate. Every time a district faces budget cuts, the music, drama, and visual arts programs are always the first to suffer. I’ve never understood why that is. The arts are as much a part of our culture as science or economics: they create the voice of society. The arts have so much influence on the modern world that we as citizens of California have elected an actor to our highest office not once, but twice. People connect with art; it has the power to change the way people think and feel about the world around them, and breeds new forms of communication by enforcing a new kind of thinking. By getting kids more in touch with their creative side, we’re preparing them for the challenges of the working world and improving their ability to convey ideas and deliver a message.
Both of my parents are scientists, but I’ve been heavily involved in music, art and drama my entire life and hope to pursue them further as my future career. Throughout the course of my entire educational journey, nothing has been more influential to my own personal growth than my time spent pursuing creative work. Visual and performing arts force you to examine and reflect on who you are and how you deal with the situations in your life. When you take a class in any of the arts, you’re not learning facts and figures; you’re learning how to think. These classes and the wonderful people who teach them are an integral part of the Californian Public Education system, and I hope that they and their efforts are recognized and respected in the new developments to the Education Code.
